The hero can’t sit still in ‘Chair Company’

Tim Robinson goes down a rabbit hole in the conspiracy-laden dark comedy on HBO.

- ROBERT LLOYD

TIM ROBINSON uncovers a conspiracy and dials up the pressure after a mishap in “The Chair Company.”

(SARAH SHATZ HBO)

“The Chair Company,” which premiered Sunday on HBO, is a conspiracy comedy — dark comedy, one would definitely have to say — in which Tim Robinson goes down a rabbit hole, from one carrot to the next, after a chair collapses beneath him. It’s a thriller in its way; there will be suspense, and injuries, and a lot of screaming, mostly by the star.

Robinson, who co-created the series with Zach Kanin (who also co-created Robinson's Netflix sketch show, “I Think You Should Leave”), is a difficult hero. His main shtick is the madman underneath a cracking veneer of civilization; physically, he projectsa sort of eccentric normality, like a critique of normal. From the beginning of “The Chair Company,” we see that Robinson’s Ron Trosper is tense and nervous and can’t relax, getting into an argument with a waitress over what and what isn’t a mall — he’s been named to lead the development of a new one in Canton, Ohio. (The action all takes place in the state.)